


Shinra Surveillance Video Library

by sanctum_c



Series: Spring Awakening 2019 [4]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: F/M, Midgar (Compilation of FFVII), Missing Scene, Surveillance, Video, thankless tasks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27198016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Reno might be in the hospital to recover after the fight at the pillar - doesn't mean he can't contribute in some fashion in the aftermath of Sephiroth's bloody attack on the Shinra building.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Spring Awakening 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985497
Kudos: 2





	Shinra Surveillance Video Library

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Monochrome'

Reno hit pause, groaned and fidgeted on the hospital bed. Amongst the Turk's many supposed specialities, information and surveillance remained high on the list. Which was laughable given the infamous nature of the Turks at the best of times and their official listing as part of HR. But Tseng was something of dictator within the outfit. Reno may be too injured for field operations – something he dearly hoped would end soon – but not too incapacitated he could not watch video.

Hours and hours of multiple view-point cameras; boxes and boxes of tapes from the Shinra company’s security system, all to answer the question: who truly killed President Shinra? Palmer clung to his story without hesitation or alteration. Sephiroth – a man five years dead by all reckonings – killed hundreds and impaled the head of the company to his desk. A hasty check of the footage in the aftermath confirmed part of Palmer's story. Or at least; the grainy black and white VHS footage showed a figure of what appeared to be someone with Sephiroth’s hair colour, build and presence striding into the President’s office.

But the visuals of Sephiroth – or someone assuming his look – lead neatly to an entirely different issue. How had he made it into the building? Not via the front-entrance; those tapes revealed nothing once the panic subsided. Not up the back-stairs either – Avalanche’s route inside. That had at least been an amusing note; to see Strife, Lockhart and Wallace stumbling from the stairwell, utterly exhausted.

No sign of Sephiroth on the roof, though outside of Wutai risking everything, no one ventured a theory on who could have air-dropped an assassin onto the building. Nor had the killer scaled the exterior. And thus it fell to Reno to trawl through every security camera feed to trace Sephiroth’s movements back to an origin point. Whether an unforeseen egress to the building or to – as many secretly hoped – a disgruntled employee with a penchant for the dramatic.

As yet; nothing. Reno had started with the upper cameras and worked down in reverse. Here was Avalanche racing through scenes as they traced the destructive trail. Another question there; how had they gotten out of their cells? The relevant tape was low priority all things considered; but-

Reno winced and struggled across the room to the box of tapes. Cells, cells- Here. Only a brief diversion from his searches. He’d be back onto his tedious investigation soon enough. His heart lurched early on; Sephiroth strode into the room, slew the guards with a single sword blow and paused right in front of the cell with Strife and Lockhart. The pair had dozed off the girl leaning against Strife's shoulder. Odd. Strife rose from the bench he sat slumped on and took halting, awkward steps to the door. He reached out- And crumpled to the floor.

Sephiroth opened the door. But, Strife was okay, right? Why had Sephiroth left him alive? The tape offered no answer. The assassin left the door and strode away, the contents of the cell seemingly of no more interest to him. Sephiroth working with Avalanche? Something didn’t feel right; he had helped them escape but there was no sense of an allegiance there. Not least Strife seemed to loathe the man. No sound on the tapes annoyingly. Not like he was liable to find some mention from the prisoners of not worrying because Sephiroth would be there soon. It would have helped.

Reno wound the tape further back. Strife and Lockhart still slumped together on the bench. In a different time and a different context, the sight could almost be romantic. A tired couple dozing off together, not a care in the world and needing only each other. Reno snorted and rewound the tape. Nothing. The hunt for Sephiroth continued.


End file.
